HALLOWEEN HORROR DAYS ~ DAY 29: INVASION OF THE BODY SNATCHERS (1978)

Out of all the remakes they have made over the years there are a few that have redefined the genre, their existence nearly overshadowing the originals. John Carpenter's The Thing and David Cronenberg's The Fly are probably two of the greatest remakes ever made. Their originals both coming from 1950's. Chuck Russell's remake of The Blob is also another one of my favorites, the original also from the 50's. It isn't as revered as The Thing or The Fly though with critics and audiences. A film that is regarded highly by both critics and audiences alike and the only other contender for greatest horror remake is Philip Kaufman's 1978 sci-fi horror masterpiece INVASION OF THE BODY SNATCHERS.

SPOILERS AHEAD
Matthew and Elizabeth have been noticing their friends and neighbors acting a little strangely. A beautiful unidentifiable flower has begun blooming all over the city, an invasive flower growing in gardens, on trees, in people's window flower boxes, and backyards. One night Elizabeth's boyfriend is given a flower. He places it on his night stand beside the bed and falls asleep. When Elizabeth wakes the plant is gone and her boyfriend looks the same but he isn't acting like himself at all.

She follows him, sees him meeting with others acting equally strange. Matthew notices more and more people acting differently too. He walks into a friend's home while they're sleeping. He sees a large plant pod next to them. A bloody naked duplicate body sprouts out of the pod and the body of the real person withers into dust. He runs to Elizabeth's house and saves her before she is duplicated. They and two of their friends go on the run. The duplicates now out number the humans. Soon his friends are taken. Then Elizabeth. Alone and on the run just how long will it be before he too is taken by the body snatchers?

Released in 1978, just one of several reasons why 1978 was perhaps the greatest year for horror films. Also in 1978 were Halloween, Dawn of the Dead, I Spit on Your Grave, Jaws 2, Piranha, Faces of Death, and many others. Donald Sutherland, Jeff Goldblum, Brooke Adams, Veronica Cartwright, and Leonard Nimoy star in the film and every one of them delivers incredible performances. Adams prior to this starred in a zombie Nazi film called Shock Waves and Goldblum and Cartwright would go on to star in The Fly and Alien in the coming years. And Sutherland would go on to star in a number of horror thrillers of note, the film Klute being at the top of my watchlist.

The special effects in this film is one of the biggest reasons why this film is so effective. They are all practical effects too, meaning they are all done in camera, no CGI or matting. The duplicate bodies emerging from the pods is ghastly and incredible! Even the shots of the alien spores spreading over leaves and surfaces is convincing and astounding. It's been a long time since I asked myself while watching a film, "How did they do that?" This appears to me as a film beautifully realized on screen both conceptually and technically.

Sci-fi and horror have always been ripe grounds for metaphor and allegory. This film is perhaps the greatest example of such. I'd be remiss if I didn't mention it but we could have a far longer discussion on the metaphors and allegories herein. We'll leave that for another day. But let me just say that when the original film was made the threat of "outsiders" among us was a very real fear in the minds of American citizens. Communism and the Red Scare. Different beliefs corrupting and perverting our children and our minds. Government mistrust too. The characters in the film turn to the authorities for help only to find them impotent and already assimilated. There are many more too especially when you analyze what Leonard Nimoy's character says in the film. Like I said we could spend a lot of time discussing this film's underlying messages. We might as well throw in George Romero's films into the discussion too.

All this aside, the film floored me when I first saw it. It is an example of pure and powerful cinema. It draws you in and you forget you're watching a movie. It deserves the legendary status is has. Do yourself a favor and check it out. It's on Netflix right now and that's where I watched it. The special effects alone are worth taking a look.

I should also note that this is a film that has been remade and reimagined endlessly. The original film of the same title was released in 1958. In 1993 the film was remade again as Body Snatchers. Then again in 2007 with Nicole Kidman and Daniel Craig titled The Invasion. There are also scores of others along similar lines like Robert Heinlein's The Puppet Masters, some even starring Donald Sutherland, haha!

Overall Ranking: 8 out of 10
Nude-O-Meter: 3 out of 10